Will Starbucks block Wi-Fi porn in 2019?

Internet safety advocate Enough Is Enough (EIE) continues to call for Starbucks to keep its November pledge to block Wi-Fi pornography from its 29,000 U.S. coffee shops by 2019.

“We will continue to engage the media to keep the pressure on Starbucks until they finally implement filtering in their U.S.-based stores,” EIE President and CEO Donna Rice Hughes said today (Dec. 3). “It’s time for America’s children and families to enjoy the same peace of mind in a safe Wi-Fi environment that Starbucks offers its loyal customer base in other nations.”

Hughes proclaimed a “David vs. Goliath” victory against Starbucks, but bases her caution on communications dating to 2016 when the coffee giant first promised to address the issue.

“We are in the process of evaluating a global protocol to address this in all of our company-owned stores,” Starbucks said in July, 2016, “and are in active discussions with organizations on implementing the right, broad-based solution that would remove any illegal and other egregious content.”

Starbucks blocked porn from its free in-store Wi-Fi service in the United Kingdom six years ago, Hughes said. But with Starbucks lagging in the U.S., EIE launched a new online petition Nov. 26 urging Starbucks to correct the problem at its U.S. locations. The petition had gained at least 27,117 signatures today.

Days after EIE launched its petition, Starbucks made its latest pledge in Nov. 28 comments to BusinessInsider.com.

“To ensure the Third Place remains safe and welcoming to all, we have identified a solution to prevent this content from being viewed within our stores and we will begin introducing it to our U.S. locations in 2019,” BusinessInsider.com quoted a Starbucks representative. Starbucks has not said which tools will be used to block Wi-Fi porn.

EIE launched its first petition against Starbucks, as well as McDonalds, in 2016. McDonalds “responded immediately,” EIE said, and blocked porn from its free Wi-Fi service.

Open Wi-Fi is increasingly used in child sex trafficking and sexual solicitation of children, EIE said, based on federal findings.

“We’re not asking for something that they haven’t done elsewhere,” EIE said in November. “This isn’t about censorship; this is about corporate responsibility.”

EIE markets itself as a “national bi-partisan non-profit organization who has led the fight to make the Internet safer for children and families since 1994.” EIE’s petition is available at citizengo.org/en/12447-we-demand-prn-free-wifi.